Civil Rights Organisations - CORE and SNCC

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Transcript of Civil Rights Organisations - CORE and SNCC

Isabella Caddy Civil Rights Organisations - CORE and SNCC Overview CORE stands for the congress of racial equality. It is an American civil rights organisation that played a significant role for the African Americans in the Civil Rights movement. Membership is stated to be open to "anyone who believes that all people are created equal and is willing to work towards the ultimate goal of true equality throughout the world." Foundation CORE was founded in 1942 by James L Farmer Jnr., George Houser, James R Robinson and Bernice Fisher. The group wanted to apply the ideas about non-violence that came from the pacifist Fellowship of Reconciliation to African-American rights and segregation. The group was also inspired by Krishnalal Jethalal Shridharani's book War Without Violence, which was based on Ghandi's teachings about organising people in a non-violent fashion. Meetings and attendance There were monthly membership meetings, elected and unpaid officers and volunteers. This was based on the democratic trade union model. CORE's impact on the Civil Rights Movement According to Wikepedia, the African-American Civil Rights Movement, which began in 1955 and ended in 1968, refers to the social movements in the United States aimed at outlawing racial discrimination against black Americans and restoring voting rights to them. CORE played a pivotal role for the African Americans in the Civil Rights Movement. One of the events that gained CORE a large amount of publicity was the Freedom Rides. It commenced on April 9, 1947 and raised a great amount of awareness. The organisation also helped to arrange the famous March on Washington, where Martin Luther King made his famous 'I have a dream" speech after 200 000 + people marched peacefully to the Lincoln memorial. The group's overall impact The group raised awareness about the rights of African American people, organising events and rallies that would be remembered for years to come - the 'I have a dream' speech, for example. Extensive media coverage on many of their events helped to spread the word about black American's rights and was successful in many ways. CORE also helped to set up Freedom schools, and along with the assistance of other organisations, 30 Freedom schools were established. Here, African-American history was taught along with the ideas of the Civil rights movement. Murders, personal attacks and arson, although devastating, also created more publicity for the cause. This media coverage attracted the attention of many black and white people and increased the amount of support they gained. It gradually began to strengthen relations between black and white people. Overall, it can be said that CORE had a positive impact on the civil rights movement and fostered rather than damaged it. However, the fact that violence and murder tainted the otherwise successful organisation cannot be ignored. Freedom schools, however effective for those who attended them, were targets of mobs and vandals. Houses of leading persons were sometimes burned or vandalised and attacks on Freedom Riders and general supporters of CORE were common. Peaceful protests often turned violent when racist mobs attacked - in one case water hoses, police dogs and nightsticks (black batons used by police to hit people) were used against the peaceful protesters when a racist police commissioner saw the event. Gains and losses - summary Gains: Publicity was attracted by many of these events and most affected black and white people in some way, in a fair few cases positively. This publicity enabled the ideas of the organisation and of the civil rights movement overall to be heard clearly by all, who could be persuaded to change their opinions to match. Losses: Loss of life was, unfortunately, a prominent feature. Several people perished for the cause and others were attacked by gangs or mobs. Homes and establishments were vandalised, some even resorting to burning such buildings. Overview SNCC stands for the student* non-violentcoordinating committee. It is an American civil rights organisation that started as a small student-only group and grew larger over the years. The SNCC also played a major role in the sit-ins and freedom rides (previously mentioned.) SNCC's major contribution was in its field work and it organised drives all over the south. Founding The organisation began in April 1960. Itemerged from a series of student meetingsheld by a woman named Ella Baker. She originally held the meetings at Shaw Universityin North California. The group grew significantlylarger and began to have an impact as the yearspassed. Meetings and attendance Originally, the organisation consisted purely of a group of university students.However, as the organisation began to grow more and more people joined. Full time workers were paid $10 a week. Most of theworkers were part-time volunteers. SNCC's impact on the civil rights movement Overall, the SNCC had a positive impact on the civil rights movement. SNCC attracted a large amount of young people who were dissatisfired with the current system. SNCC played a very important role in the organisation of the March on Washington, as did CORE. As I have mentioned previously, the March on Washington was of the utmost importance to African Americans both at the time and in the present day. The SNCC also organised Freedom Summer along with CORE. This was aimed principally at ending the policitcal disenfranchisement of African Americans in the Deep South. The Freedom schools I have previously mentioned were also set up by SNCC. These schools encouraged people to learn about black history and to take part in the Civil Rights movement. The SNCC also played a key role in the organisation of the sit -ins, events which drew national attention to the cause. Overall, it created publicity for the cause and gradually convinced people to take their ideas on board, one step at a time. However, the organisation slowly became more radical, changed its name from non-violent to national and became detached and alienated from the mainstream of the movement. A group of black and whitemen took busses interstateto the Deep South, the whitemen sitting at the back andthe black men sitting at thefront to test the SupremeCourt ruling that declaredsegregation in interstatetravel was unconsitutional. The group's overall impact In the beginning, SNCC managed to gain a large amount of publicity for the cause. They set up many schools and assisted in the organisation of several peaceful protests. Increasing numbers of people, especially younger men and women, began to join. However, as time passed by, the group became increasingly violent and detached themselves from the main body of the movement. The group's influence on the movement slowly began to decrease as this occurred. Overall, the group's impact on the civil rights movement was major mainly due to its organisation of events. Losses and gains - summary Gains: Publicity was one of the most important gains of the organisation. National press reported on many of the events the SNCC had helped to organise, gaining attention for the cause and attempting to give African-Americans the chances that white people had. Many young people also joined, giving hope for the next generation.Losses: Like any of these organisations, participation was risky. Mobs attacked people on the freedom rides and at freedom schools, and those in the group did everything at great personal risk. The way the organisation became increasingly violent and less prominent was also a loss. *Student in this case refers to a University student We affirm the philosophical or religious ideal of nonviolence as the foundation of our purpose, the presupposition of our belief, and the manner of our action. SCNN's founding statement Bibliography www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/eyesontheprize/sources/index.html http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/488122/Congress-of-Racial-Equality-CORE en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Student_Nonviolent_Coordinating_Committee en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Congress_of_Racial_Equality CORE's involvement in the freedome rides Therefore the combination of these blacks who were already resisting, and the Irene Morgan Decision, which gave blacks the right to resist segregation, particularly in interstate travel, we in CORE decided immediately following the Morgan decision that the next year, 1947, we were going to create a nationwide protest with nine blacks and nine whites who would go into buses all over the upper south with blacks sitting in the front and the whites sitting in the back to challenge this. http://historymatters.gmu.edu/d/6909